The Boston Celtics had the strongest response possible to their incredibly disappointing Game 1 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, as they punished Joel Embiid and company at home Wednesday night in a 121-87 victory.

And you bet, Celtics fans are all over their team's statement win over the Sixers to level this second-round series at 1-1.

The Celtics had their guns blazing in Game 2 of the series, as they sizzled from behind the arc. Boston knocked down 20 3-pointers on 51 attempts from deep. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics' attack with 25 points while Malcolm Brogdon came off the bench and fired 23 points. Boston also held the Sixers down to only 39.2 field goal percentage.

Making the Celtics' blowout victory even more interesting is the fact that Boston did not even need Jayson Tatum to come up with a decent performance, let alone a big one, to defeat the Sixers. Tatum finished with just seven points on 1-for-7 shooting from the field in 19 minutes of action.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
NBA PLayoffs Panic Meter with Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, and Paolo Banchero

Brett Siegel ·

cG9zdDoyODE2NjIx-thumbnail

Matt Guzman ·

image idea: (left to right) kristaps porzingis, joe mazzulla, and jrue holiday looking serious on a Miami city background

Daniel Donabedian ·

“Payton Pritchard outscored Jayson Tatum in a must-win playoff game that the Celtics won by a billion. Just as we all predicted,” tweeted Keith Smith.

“Did not have “Payton Pritchard scoring more points than Jayson Tatum in a Celtics win” on the bingo card tonight which is a shame,” wrote Jay King.4

With the series tied at a win apiece, the Celtics and the Sixers will take a rest Thursday before going back to work on Friday for Game 3 of the series which will take place in the City of Brotherly Love.